Fading Flame
by Miss Lovelin
Summary: Warning for SLIGHT SPOILERS and rated T for character death: What if Red Hemka had actually died from the Sickness? An alternate bittersweet ending. Two parts, first half in Red Hemka's POV and second half in Hanazuki's POV.


**Hello I'm sad today and it made me think about this.**

 **EDIT: Updated for 25% more cheesiness.**

 **I don't own Hanazuki: Full of Treasures.**

 **(Listening to the "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day" and "Your Lie in April" soundtracks as I write. Sad animes. Cried for two days straight, no kidding. But "Secret Base" is a DAMN GOOD SONG.)**

* * *

"Red Hemka..."

Her voice was barely a whisper. Glowing blue, her endless tears only phased through me.

I hate seeing my Moonflower like this. I don't want her to cry. This is the saddest I've ever seen her. My fellow Hemkas are gathered around her, mournful and silent. Pink, Lime Green and Blue are clinging to her, weeping quietly. Dazzlessence, Sleepy Unicorn, Doughy Bunington, the other Moonflowers, they're all here to say goodbye.

But I can't move anymore. I can't talk anymore. The Big Bad swirls above us and the pain within me grows, but I can't cry out. I'm frozen. They almost can't see me anymore. I can't feel anything but this excruciating pain... yet the final stage of "the sickness" prevents me from doing anything but blink and stare.

But when I look at _her,_ I still feel safe somehow. She tried. She tried her best to save me. But it wasn't enough.

I would do anything to see Hanazuki's smile again. She has suffered far too much for our sake.

 _Just one smile before I'm gone, please... Smile, stop crying... It only hurts me more to be stuck here, watching you cry._

 _You made me a home, so we made yours._

I can hear the faint whispers of voices, fragments of hushed conversation from behind Hanazuki. Barely hearing, barely seeing, unable to feel the ground beneath me. I could just dissolve into the wind...

"... _It'll be over soon..."_

 _"...like a ghost..."_

 _"...looks tired..."_

With all my remaining strength, I just focus on Hanazuki.

I wish I were here longer. I wish I could talk to her. Comfort her. Tell her everything is okay... tell her I'll still be here, watching over her, even if she can't see me. I love her too much to let her remain like this.

Why, when our friendship was just beginning, did this have to happen to us? To her?

Our Moonflower does not deserve this.

Until now, I feel I've taken her for granted. I try to reach out to her hand, but I still can't move. The way I'm going out is so slow, so agonizing, ... yet, all I can think about is the fact that I would rather it be me than anyone else. _Especially her..._

I never realized how important she became to us, all in such a short time. We watched her grow and learn from strange experiences, she showed us things we'd never have imagined to do; we missed her whenever she left... as if we'd known her forever. Until now, it seemed so simple.

A snippet of a long ago conversation crossed my mind, one between Hanazuki and Sleepy Unicorn while the moon was being attacked. I overheard Sleepy ask the Moonflower as we were escaping the danger, "but who's going to protect _you?"_

I know Hanazuki believes she should be a guardian of all of us without anyone to protect her, but she isn't invincible. Nobody is.

She doesn't deserve to be alone.

This day is where we find the answer to that question: _wherever I end up from here, **I will protect her**._

 _No matter what._

* * *

 _I have so many things I want to tell him... I need to tell him._

I try to lift him up off the ground, the soft grass dampened from my tears. He's as light as a feather. I can't feel his soft fur anymore, only the slightest amount of weight in my arms, and cold air surrounding him. Sleepy was right; he _was_ like a ghost...

It takes so much strength not to cry again. He's gazing at me, slowly blinking. He looks so sleepy... was death just like sleeping? I wish I could ask... to know he'll be okay, wherever he goes from here...

"H-hey, little buddy," I whisper, ruffling his fading ears. My feisty little guy's never been so helpless... like a candle's flame burns bright for a while, eventually it melts away.

"I'm so sorry, Red. I want nothing more than to save you. This... this is..."

I feel so guilty...

"It's my fault. It's all my fault! I promised to protect all of you, and... and..."

The tears return again. Blinking through them, I see Red is crying, too. Despite being frozen, in pain, his tears also fall, translucent and light. They vanish away before they can touch the ground.

They, like him, are fading.

"I think he might have something to say to _you,_ Hanazuki," Sleepy starts, his tone a mix of empathetic and solemn.

"Mirror Plant can translate for him."

At these words, we cautiously head to Mirror Plant, gently placing Red Hemka next to the now-frowning flower, which hides in her petals and reopens to resemble Red.

She listens to Red's quiet, painful rasps and breaths as he struggles to speak. It's clearly draining so much strength for him...

"Hanazuki," Mirror Plant looks up at me, copying Red's rough, raspy tone, "it isn't your fault. Not by a long shot."

I quietly step closer to listen to Red's words. It could be the last time I would be able to talk with him...

"You have helped us so much. You are a wonderful Moonflower and I appreciate everything you've done for me, for everyone here. You don't deserve this. I hate seeing you cry like this... Listen... it isn't your fault, it's just... my time." Mirror Plant's voice trails off, as if that wasn't a good choice of words.

"I don't want it to be 'your time', Red!" I cry out, standing up, lifting up the ghost-like Hemka from his place, holding tightly to him. Mirror Plant, with Red's face, gazes at me sympathetically. I hear his little raspy voice again, which the plant translates.

"But even though you can't see me, I'll still be with you."

I pause, looking back at the Hemka.

"Nobody truly disappears when they die, Hanazuki. Spirits are everywhere. You have to _feel_ their presence, just like you feel an emotion. They're invisible, but still there nonetheless," Mirror Plant whispers, a smile forming on her -and Red Hemka's- faces, "I will be right here next to you, I will protect you, for as long as you remember me. Goodbyes are not forever. They never are.

"Please smile for me. It only hurts me more to see you sad."

Trying to wipe away my tears, I gently put Red down again.

He isn't quite red anymore- the fiery, feisty color has vanished from him.

"I am still here," Mirror Plant says for the dying Hemka.

"You remember," I murmur softly, my hand on Red's transparent little head, the other Hemkas watching around me, "feistiness was the very first emotion I felt, the day I was born, _your_ emotion... And we fixed your little house... and then the day you guys discovered red treasure juice, that was quite a day," I chuckle softly, managing a small smile.

"I wish we could have known each other just a little bit longer, buddy. But I have happy memories in my heart of my time with you. You were my first emotion, and we will never forget you... you were such an energetic little guy..."

Tears fall, a relentless aching in my heart, yet I still smile for him. Everyone still smiles for him.

He manages to smile back at me, his little eyes closing for the final time, as he weakly mutters something else.

Even Mirror Plant's voice is starting to waver as she translates the very last words Red would ever say.

 _"I love you..."_

"I love you, too, Red," I whisper, my voice beginning to break as well, "we all love you."

Before he completely fades away and out of my reach, I struggle not to start bawling again. There is still so much I want to say, want to know...

"Most of the treasure trees h-here are f-feisty red ones, just like you. They're a r-reminder of you," I stutter as I try not to cry for the Hemka, "so thank you. Thank you for helping me express my first mood that day."

 _Hold on... Please don't go... please don't leave me behind now... Tell me this is s_ _ome prank of yours or something, anything... I won't mind, I just want you to come back... stay with me..._

 _...Even if I can't see you..._

He looks so peaceful, this last time, as he disappears completely, vanishing into nothing.

I touch the ground where he was laying. There was no warmth to prove he was there at all. Mirror Plant's face changes into an image of mine.

"But he _is_ still here."

I look up at the sky, and to my surprise, the Big Bad has vanished.

Now that the sky is clear, I see something that wasn't there before. I gasp in awe.

It gives me a sweet feeling inside. The others wrap around me in a hug as we all look up at the beautiful sight. I glow bright pink as I reach out towards it.

High up in the night sky, a big, bright red star burst into existence and shone like an eternal flame.

There was no pain anymore. He smiled as he died because I smiled for him, and set him free. _Fly high, little buddy._

He said he would protect me, didn't he?

If I ever wonder about him, I just look at that red star; shining bright in the night sky, its warm light reaching down to the moon. It's like an embrace.

With that star, I still remember Red Hemka and I know he's still with me.

* * *

 **bittersweet cheesy stuff.**

 **WHY DID I WRITE THIS. I WAS BORED AND SAD AND WATCHED TOO MUCH OF "ANOHANA" AND "YOUR LIE IN APRIL".**

 **GOOD DAY GUYS**


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